Around The World

A security official says at least 10 people were killed in attacks in northeast Nigeria likely carried out by a radical Islamist sect.

The security official said the killings happened Sunday in a village called Chibok in Borno state, where ongoing attacks by the sect known as Boko Haram have killed hundreds this year. The official said the dead came from a church attacked by the gunmen and a road construction crew. Meanwhile, gunmen also burned down government buildings in the village of Gamboru.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity as only the military is allowed to discuss such attacks now in the region. A military spokesman could not be immediately reached for comment.

TOKYO

At least seven people were feared missing and several dead after about 150 concrete panels fell from the roof of a tunnel on the main highway linking Tokyo with central Japan.

Efforts to rescue any survivors trapped inside the tunnel were hindered by heavy smoke after one vehicle caught fire inside the Sasago Tunnel, about 50 miles outside Tokyo.

Rescuers also temporarily suspended work because of fears of a further collapse. They were attempting to reach at least several vehicles believed buried in the rubble, including a truck whose driver was trapped inside and had called his company for help.

“I could hear voices of people calling for help, but the fire was just too strong,” said a woman interviewed by public broadcaster NHK after she escaped from the tunnel.

The Fire and Disaster Management Agency issued a statement late Sunday saying five people were confirmed to have been in a car that burned inside the tunnel, and at least one other was in a truck. However, officials said they could not confirm the exact number of people believed dead.

BRIEFLY ...

• BAGHDAD — Iraqi authorities say gunmen broke into the house of an anti-al-Qaida militiaman north of Baghdad and killed him and his two sons.

A police officer says the killings took place early Sunday when gunmen, armed with pistols fitted with silencers, rushed into the house near the city of Samarra, 60 miles north of Baghdad.

• KABUL, Afghanistan — Taliban suicide bombers attacked a joint U.S.-Afghan air base in eastern Afghanistan early Sunday, detonating explosives at the gate and sparking a gunbattle that lasted at least two hours with American helicopters firing down on the militants.

The attackers and at least five Afghans were killed, officials said. Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the assault.

• BEIRUT — Syrian warplanes and artillery blasted parts of the capital Damascus and its rebellious suburbs on Sunday, part of what activists described as intense fighting as rebels try to push their way into the center of President Bashar Assad’s power base.

In central Syria, a car bomb killed at least 15 people, the official news agency reported.

• UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. Security Council is demanding an immediate stop to the violence in eastern Congo and says it will increase sanctions against rebels who attacked the Congolese army.

The Security Council held an emergency meeting on Saturday, after M23 rebels, backed by Rwandan forces, clashed with the Congolese army following a months-long lull in the violence.